Learning Outcomes –

Perception
 Recognize the three factors influencing
perception
 List the shortcuts that are used to the
advantage or detriment of
understanding others
 Explain the fundamental attribution
theory
 Through self assessment, gain insight on
how one’s own perception impacts
understanding of people and situations
Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 1
 Perception
 Perception is the way people organize and
interpret the world around them in order to
give meaning to their surroundings.
 People’s behavior is based on how they
interpret reality, not reality itself.
 The world that is perceived is the world that
is behaviorally important.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 2

 Perception
 Perception is influenced by:
 the perceiver.
 the target.
 the situation.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 3

 Factors Influencing
Perception
 Factors in the Perceiver:
 attitudes.
 motives.

 interest.

 experience.

 expectations.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 4

 Factors Influencing
Perception
 Factors in the Target:
 motion.
 sounds.

 size.

 background.

 proximity.

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 Factors Influencing
Perception
 Factors in the Situation:
 time.
 work setting.

 social setting.

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 Characteristics and Beliefs of
the Perceivers Affecting
Perception
 Projection – Attributing one’s own
characteristics to other people.
 Selective perception – People selectively
interpret what they see on the basis of
their interest, background, experience,
and attitudes.
 Stereotyping – Judging someone on the
basis of one’s perception of the group to
which that person belongs.

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 Characteristics and Beliefs of
the Perceivers Affecting
Perception
 Halo effect – Drawing a general positive
impression about an individual on the basis
of a single characteristic.
 Contrast effect – Evaluating a person’s
characteristics that are affected by
comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on
the same characteristics.
 Horn effect – Drawing a general negative
impression about an individual on the basis
of a single characteristic.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 8

 Attribution Theory
 A person tries to determine whether
another person’s behavior is caused by
internal or external factors. This is
conditioned by three attributes:
 consensus in behavior.
 consistency in behavior.
 distinctiveness in behavior.

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 Attribution Theory

Individual Behavior

Distinctiveness Consistency Consensus

Low High Low High Low High

Internal External External Internal Internal External
cause cause cause cause cause cause

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 10

 Attribution Theory
 Locus of Control
 Internal – People who believe
they control their own destiny.
 External – People who believe
that external factors control
them.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 11

 Jedi Wisdom
 Let go of your anger.  Keep your
 Let the force flow through concentration on the
you. here and now.
 Don’t center on your
anxiety.
 Your eyes can
 Do or do not. There is no
deceive you. Don’t
try. trust them.
 Let go of your conscious  Don’t give in to hate.
self. Act on instinct.  Once you start down
 Beware the dark side. the dark path,
forever will it
dominate your
destiny.
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 Attribution Theory
Errors
 Self-serving bias
 This is a tendency for
individuals to attribute their
own success to internal
factors and place blame for
failures on external factors.
Their approach is self-
serving.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 13

 Attribution Theory Errors
 Fundamental attribution
error
 We tend to underestimate
the influence of external
factors and overestimate
the influence of internal
factors.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 14

 Perception Applications
 Dating
 Interviews
 Self-fulfilling prophecies of
performance
 Performance evaluations
 Employee effort
 Employee loyalty
Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 15
 Summary
 Perceptions affect awareness of
problems.
 Perceptions affect analysis of
problems.
 Perceptions affect interpretations of
data.
 Perceptions affect judgment of
potential outcomes.
Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 16
 Summary
 We need to study perceptions
in a systematic manner to
improve our decision-making
performance.

Chapter 3 Copyright 2004 Vandeveer, Menefee,Sinclair 17